{"id":46953,"date":"2019-08-01T14:12:20","date_gmt":"2019-08-01T18:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=46953"},"modified":"2019-08-01T14:12:20","modified_gmt":"2019-08-01T18:12:20","slug":"five-entrepreneurs-granted-loans-under-governments-edf-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-entrepreneurs-granted-loans-under-governments-edf-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Five entrepreneurs granted loans under government\u2019s EDF initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Five local entrepreneurs were the first to receive loans from the government\u2019s Entrepreneurial Development Fund (EDF).<\/p>

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The fund, which was launched by Prime Minister, Gaston Browne in May, is aimed at assisting young Antiguans And Barbudans with start-up capital for varying business plans.<\/p>\n

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Recipients,Winston Ainsworth, Jean Piere Bloodman, Joanne Eastman-George, Akeem Edwards and Kanter Rawlins were presented with checks at the Prime Minister\u2019s office this week.<\/p>\n

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The fund began with a total of 12 million dollars.<\/p>\n

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\u201cVery shortly we\u2019re expected to move to about 27 million. Global ports should be contributing about 13.5 million dollars\u201d, the Prime Minister said.<\/p>

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\u201cWe\u2019re now in discussion with others to include Royal Caribbean to also make a sizeable\u00a0contribution to increase this fund\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The fund will also receive periodic cash injections from a telecommunications tax that was introduced to fund the initiative.<\/p>

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\u201cContinue to develop yourselves. Those of you\u2026 who do not have a degree or any formal training, you may want to at least commit yourselves to improving your level of training especially the specialty that\u2019s associated with your business\u201d, Prime Minister Browne advised the recipients.<\/p>\n

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The loan program aims to make capital more accessible by eliminating a significant amount of the normal bureaucratic procedures associated with financial institutions.<\/p>\n

Interest rates are reportedly set at about 2% per annum.<\/p>

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Five local entrepreneurs were the first to receive loans from the government\u2019s Entrepreneurial Development Fund (EDF). The fund, which was launched by Prime Minister, Gaston Browne in May, is aimed at assisting young Antiguans And Barbudans with start-up capital for varying business plans. Recipients,Winston Ainsworth, Jean Piere Bloodman, Joanne Eastman-George, Akeem Edwards and Kanter Rawlins […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFive entrepreneurs granted loans under government\u2019s EDF initiative - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/five-entrepreneurs-granted-loans-under-governments-edf-initiative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five entrepreneurs granted loans under government\u2019s EDF initiative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five local entrepreneurs were the first to receive loans from the government\u2019s Entrepreneurial Development Fund (EDF). The fund, which was launched by Prime Minister, Gaston Browne in May, is aimed at assisting young Antiguans And Barbudans with start-up capital for varying business plans. 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